Sparrow BioAcoustics, a healthtech startup based in St. John’s, NL, has raised $10 million in seed financing to expand its innovative heart monitoring technology. The funding round was led by Killick Capital, Klister Credit, and Pelorus Ventures, following Sparrow’s recent regulatory approvals for its smartphone-based stethoscope app, Stethophone.
Founded in 2019, Sparrow BioAcoustics developed the Stethophone app, which turns smartphones into medical-grade stethoscopes. The app uses patented bioacoustics technology that amplifies and clarifies heart sounds more effectively than traditional stethoscopes. Users can simply hold their phone to their chest to listen and record heart sounds, which are then processed into spectrograms and oscillograms for detailed analysis by healthcare professionals.
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FDA Clearance and AI Integration
After receiving FDA clearance in 2023, the Stethophone app became available for use by both medical professionals and consumers in the U.S. Sparrow also secured health authority clearance in Ukraine. Recently, the company integrated AI-based analysis into the app, which was showcased at the 2024 Collision Conference. Sparrow is now focused on building AI models to detect early signs of heart disease and expanding the market reach of its technology.
Pushing Through Challenges
Killick Capital president Mark Dobbin praised the startup for overcoming numerous scientific and regulatory hurdles. “The Sparrow team has achieved milestones that will help millions of people in a groundbreaking way,” he stated.
With this new funding, the company is poised to scale its platform, advancing the way heart health is monitored globally by transforming everyday smartphones into powerful diagnostic tools.
